2015 $10 Explorers First Sightings Gold Proof Coin

The third coin in the Kangaroo Series: Explorers’ First Sightings is based on an original handcoloured engraving, which has been captured with modern minting technology to celebrate the early glimpses of this iconic Australian animal.

Before they captured the hearts of generations of Australians, kangaroos caught the attention of early explorers. These curious creatures were depicted in words and artworks which seem inaccurate today, but are filled with the beauty of these animals capturing people’s imaginations.

Vincent Woodthorpe’s hand-coloured engraving was published in George Barrington’s A Voyage to Botany Bay, where he described kangaroos as, "about the size of a common deer, of a dark tan colour… its hind legs are much longer than the fore, and with them theyleap and spring forward with amazing rapidity.”

This early sense of wonder about kangaroos and their ongoing legacy as Australian icons is captured on three different coins, which cater for the widest cross-section of Australian coin collectors.

This is the final release in the Kangaroo Series: Explorers First Sightings and a continuation of the 20-year tradition of Kangaroo Series coins.